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KMID : 1160420210030010001
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Epilia: Epilepsy Commun
2021 Volume.3 No. 1 p.1 ~ p.6
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The History of Neuroscience 3: Where Were the Human Mind and Soul in the 17th Century?
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Lee Sang-Kun
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Abstract
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The 17th century was the period of searching for the human soul. The most prominent philosopher at this period was Rene Descartes. He abandoned the old Greek philosophy and ushered the start of new thinking to find the truth. He also put cornerstone for the mathematical understanding of the world and the importance of the scientific experiment. He proposed the mind-body dualism to explain the mechanism of behavior of the living things. By Descartes, the two types of substances existing in the world were the physical and the mental ones. The only human soul could not be examined directly and had the power of self-determination and consciousness. Thomas Willis, the father of modern neurology, published the monumental book in the history of neuroscience, ‘Cerebri anatome.’ Willis stressed the role of cerebral gyri exercising human memory, imagination and voluntary action. He even suggested the gray substance of gyri as the area of pro-creation of animal spirit. He divided the brain into different functional parts based on pre-existing theories, clinical cases, and comparative neuroanatomy. Another important pioneer of the 17th century was Niels Stensen. He emphasized the meaning of the organization and development of brain. He suggested that the brain should be organized in a special way not to execute many different functions chaotically. He stressed the implementation of many different scientific approaches including pathology, development, and comparative neuroanatomy to see the organization of brain. The microscope developed during this period would be the basis for the upcoming time of enlightenment of neuroscience.
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KEYWORD
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17th century, Human soul, Rene Descartes, Thomas Willis, Niels Stensen
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